David Crosby (born David Van Cortland Crosby on August 14, 1941 in Los Angeles, California) is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is most well known for being a founding member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN), and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work in both groups. He is the son of Floyd Crosby, an Academy Award winning cinematographer.
David Crosby moved through the same Greenwich Village scene Bob Dylan participated in, and even shared a mentor of Dylan's in a local scene favourite Fred Neil.
The song Hey Joe is widely credited as being popularized by David Crosby after he picked it up from Dino Valente. He taught the song to Bryan MacLean and Arthur Lee of Love, who then taught it to members of The Leaves. Since he felt responsible for having popularized the song, Crosby convinced the other members of The Byrds to cover it on Fifth Dimension.
By Younger Than Yesterday, the Byrds' album of 1967, Crosby was starting to find his trademark style - a unique combination of solo vocals augmenting a touch of Nina Simone and his unique 'angelic' harmony arrangement of a jazzy, Gregorian chant, Beach Boys type and music that veered from Joni Mitchell-esque guitar tunings to full-on rock. His influence has all too often been overshadowed by that of The Beatles or The Byrds, but it could be argued that Crosby was, stylistically, one of the most influential singers in the 1960s on guitar groups of the folk rock genre. Crosbyesque harmonies can be heard in Crowded House, The Mamas & The Papas, The Grateful Dead, The Eagles, America, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor.
In The Byrds, while Roger McGuinn was responsible for the trademark 12 string guitar sound (which he in turn took from George Harrison on "A Hard Day's Night" and the Beatles for Sale album), Crosby was responsible for the soaring harmonies and often unusual phrasing on their songs.
While in CSN, he wrote many important songs. These include "Guinnevere", "Almost Cut My Hair", "Long Time Gone", and "Delta". He also co-wrote "Wooden Ships" with Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane and Stephen Stills.
In 1971 he released his first solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name. It included Joni Mitchell, the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Neil Young and others. Panned on release by Rolling Stone, subsequently it's more well thought of. The album's track listing shows great variety. Opening with the gentle "Music is Love", what starts as a sort of paean to the 1960s then takes a twist with the swing-rock of "Cowboy Movie" - an 8 minute freak out with faultless playing throughout. Darker elements abound with "What Are Their Names" - a song about the politicians who make unauthorized decisions behind closed doors - and "I Could Swear There Was Somebody Here" - a ghostly vocal track multilayering Crosby's voice into an ethereal presence - a genuinely haunting song for his recently deceased partner. Elsewhere there are instrumentals where the voice is used as an additional sound - as in "Song Without Words". The standout tracks are arguably "Laughing" and "Traction in the Rain".
Some other popular songs Crosby wrote in the 1970's include "Where Will I Be?", "Carry Me", "Bittersweet", "Time After Time", "Foolish Man", and "In My Dreams".
In 1985, after years of advanced freebase cocaine and heroin addiction, he served a year in jail in Texas after having been convicted for a drug-related offense a few years earlier. He was set free after a higher court overturned his conviction on appeal. Later, he was the recipient of a highly publicized liver transplant. On March 6, 2004 he was arrested for drug possession and weapons offenses in New York City.
In 2004, Crosby left behind a piece of luggage when checking out of a New York hotel room. A hotel employee searched the bag to try to find some identification, and found a quantity of marijuana, a 45-caliber handgun and a knife. Crosby was arrested when he went back to the hotel to pick up his property. He was charged with illegal possession of a hunting knife, illegal possession of a handgun and ammunition, and possession of marijuana.
He donated sperm to fellow musician Melissa Etheridge so that she and her lesbian partner at the time, Julie Cypher, could have two babies.
While he is still in CSN, Crosby also now leads his own band CPR with guitarist Jeff Pevar and keyboardist James Raymond, Crosby's son who was given up for adoption at birth and reunited with his father after he had become a professional musician himself.
